Rewritten
by Bananas102
Summary: Collection of one-shots with fluffy friendships, merlin whump, and a few hurt feelings
1. Chapter 1

"Merlin!"

Ow. Like really...ow.

"Merlin, can you hear me?"

Merlin coughed violently and opened his eyes to see Arthur kneeling at a ledge. Looking down at him.

Oh.

Arthur smiled, but only for a brief second.

"We'll get you out in a second."

Merlin just shut his eyes. Ow.

"Hey! No sleeping or anything," Arthur called.

Merlin opened his eyes again and glared at him. "You know, this is actually sort of painful," he said hoarsely from his bed of rocks.

Arthur pursed his lips. "I figured, you idiot."

There were voices and Merlin spotted Gwaine at the edge with some rope.

"Merlin, you okay?" Gwaine asked.

"Peachy," Merlin muttered.

Arthur tied the rope around his waist and Gwaine lowered him down.

Merlin's eyes fluttered closed.

After what seemed like only a few seconds, Merlin realized someone was shaking him.

"Come on, wake up!"

Merlin groaned, his features twisting in pain.

He looked to see Arthur over him.

"You couldn't have let me sleep or something?"

Arthur laughed in relief.

"Nope."


	2. Chapter 2

"You accept that I have magic?"

"Well I always knew you were freakish."

Merlin gave him a look.

"Wait. You knew?"

"Not that you were a sorcerer, you idiot. That you were odd."

Merlin blinked.

"Not so hard to figure that one out, sire."

"Obviously."

"So...no burning at the stake?"

Arthur shrugged.

"I'll think about it."

Merlin gaped.

Arthur snorted. "No, you dummy."

Merlin laughed nervously and Arthur rolled his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Merlin landed with a thump.

He hissed in pain and immediately sat up.

Arthur looked at him from the cage next to him.

"So...warded against magic?"

Merlin nodded. "Yeah."

The door burst open and the bandits looked at both of them.

The leader stepped forward. "Which one of you wa it?"

Merlin and Arthur exchanged looks.

"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked.

"Which one of you used magic?"

Merlin laughed nervously. "Magic? No, t-that's stupid."

He started to ramble and Arthur sent him a fierce look, forcing Merlin to shut up.

The bandit leader looker at Arthur. "Which one of you was it? Tell me, or he dies," he said, pointing at Merlin.

Merlin swallowed hard.

"Neither of us," Arthur pressed.

The bandit leader exhaled and nodded to his men, who opened the cages and dragged the two out, forcing them to their knees and facing each other.

The bandit leader leaned down next to Merlin and said something in Merlin's ear that made him go pale and his eyes go wide.

Arthur frowned. "What did you say to him?"

The bandit leader paused them whispered again.

Merlin nodded.

The bandit leader looked smug.

"What did you say? Merlin, what did he say?"

"He revealed the sorcerer, saving your hide."

He looked down at Merlin. "This is going to be fun."

He made a moved towards Arthur, and Merlin's eyes flashed gold.


	4. Chapter 4

Arthur approached Gwen. "My Lord," she said respectfully.

Arthur nodded. "Gwen, do you know what's going on with Merlin? He's acting weirder than usual."

Gwen swallowed hard.

Arthur blinked. "Gwen?" he pressed.

Gwen sighed. "His mother's in Camelot, and she's dying."

Arthur swallowed. "Oh."

Gwen nodded and excused herself.

* * *

Merlin had a haunted look on his face. Sad, and heartbroken.

Arthur walked up to him, hands in his pockets.

Only when he heard a light sniffle, did he realized Merlin had been crying.

Merlin looked up when he became aware of his approach, and hastily blinked back tears.

Arthur stood next to him.

"I heard about your mother," he said quietly.

Merlin stiffened.

"I'm sorry," Arthur said.

Merlin nodded. Arthur glanced at him and saw a lone tears escape out of one eye.

"She's going to be okay," Merlin whispered, his voice breaking at the end.

Arthur sighed.

"Take the rest of the day off," he said gently. "Go be with your mother."

Merlin nodded and excused himself, head down.

Arthur almost missed the small whisper of "Thank you."

Almost.


	5. Chapter 5

"Arthur, you can't!"

"You can't tell me what to do."

Merlin caught hold of his elbow, and Arthur looked at his grip before looking at Merlin's face.

"Arthur, you are going to be king. You can't sacrifice everything for a servant."

"It's your life."

"I'm a servant, Arthur! I'm expendable! You're not!"

Arthur mumbled something.

Merlin frowned. "What?"

"I said, you're not expendable."

Merlin blinked.

"You're not just a servant, either. You're my friend."

Merlin felt his grip on Arthur's elbow loosening.

"My only friend," Arthur muttered.

Merlin felt torn.

Arthur took a step towards him.

"I'm not having you die, Merlin. Okay?"

Merlin looked down, but he let go.

"I don't plan on dying either."

Arthur took a few steps, then slowed and turned around.

"Well? You coming?"

Merlin smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

Merlin heard it before he felt it.

A whizzing sound, just before an arrow buried itself into his chest.

Pain tore across his chest and he fell to his knees.

He felt the warm stickyness of blood seeping down his shirt and dripping with a light patter onto the dirt.

He head pounded with an audible drum.

Merlin blinked.

Everything around him now seemed muffled and blurry, as if he was the only one actually there.

There was a tapping sound, different than the blood dripping sound.

Boots came into his line of sight.

Hey...he knew those.

Firm hands gripped his shoulder and he wearily raised his head.

Arthur...hmm. He looked worried. Scared maybe. Hmm. Wonder why.

Merlin blinked, but that just made is already woozy vision worse.

His world tipped and then he was leaning against something very firm.

Wait...no, he way laying down.

Blood rushed in his ears and there was a faint ringing sound.

Then nothing.

* * *

Merlin first noticed he was warm.

Then he noticed whatever he was wrapped in was impossibly warm and fuzzy.

Ooo...fuzzy.

Merlin cracked his eyes open.

Gaius's house. He looked to the right into the relieved faces of Arthur and Gaius.

It was nice. Serene. Peaceful.

"You stupid idiot."

Nevermind.


	7. Chapter 7

"Where is he?"

None of the knights could look him in the eye.

"We were ambushed, sire. He grabbed the bandit leader and they both fell over the edge."

Arthur stilled.

"Where is he?"

Gwaine shook his head. "I'm sorry sire, we looked, but there was no way he could have survived that fall, or the current. He's gone."

* * *

Well, contrary to popular belief, he wasn't dead.

Magic did sometimes have it's perks.

Merlin was tired, wet, and had a painful scrape on one jaw, and he just wanted to go and sleep in his bed.

He opened the door to Gaius's place and was met with about six crying people.

Merlin blinked from his perch at the doorway.

"Who died?"

"_Merlin!_"


	8. Chapter 8

First, Merlin was pummeled by an armful of Gwen, and as he passed through people, he was slapped on the back and such by a few people he didn't really know.

"Stop, stop," Merlin said, "I don't understand what's going on!"

"We thought you were dead," Lancelot explained.

"Well that's silly, why would you think that?"

Gwaine cleared his throat awkwardly.

The door opened, and Arthur walked in, incredibly serious.

* * *

Arthur froze. He looked at Merlin, frowning.

Merlin, slightly waving, said, "Um, surprise?"

Arthur strode forward and Merlin, sensing his demise, squeaked and tried to hide behind Percival.

However, instead of the smack on the head he was expecting, he found himself getting pulled into an embrace.

"You idiot!" Arthur bellowed then, pushing him away and jabbing a finger in his face.

"If you ever, _ever _pull something like that again, I will kill you, revive you, then kill you again! Understood?"

Merlin beamed. "Arthur, you hugged me."

Arthur groaned, turned on his heel, and left the room.


	9. Chapter 9

It was cold. But peaceful. The toes of his boots poked over the edge.

Arthur strode out onto the balcony. "Merlin the guards tell me-"

He froze.

"Merlin?"

Merlin shuddered.

"Merlin, what are you doing?"

No answer.

"Okay, how about you come down?"

Merlin shook his head.

"I can't...I want to, but I can't."

Arthur took a few steps toward him and Merlin legs twitched, having him lean over slightly.

He stopped.

"I-I'm not in control, Arthur," Merlin said quickly, his voice shaking.

"What do you mean?" Arthur voice was even, gentle, non-threatening.

Merlin grimaced, looking down. "I-I can't."

Then his face went smooth.

"I'm thinking."

Arthur swallowed. "Okay. What are you thinking about?"

Merlin shrugged. "I can't tell you."

"Why?"

Merlin just shook his head.

He looked at ground below.

"It...would be bad if I fall."

Arthur nodded and swallowed. "Glad we agree on something then."

Merlin smiled briefly, but then he looked scared again.

"Arthur? Arthur!" His voice grew increasing panicked.

"Merlin? Why can't you come down?"

Merlin shook his head violently, causing him to teeter over the edge.

"Okay, okay," Arthur soothed. "You can't tell me. That's okay."

Merlin gasped in some air.

"Break it."

Merlin dropped an amulet to the ground. His legs trembled.

Arthur dove for the amulet and smashed it just as Merlin's legs buckled.

Arthur grabbed him and tugged hard, causing them both to crash to the balcony floor.

Merlin was panting, his eyes wide. Arthur just exhaled shakily.

Merlin looked over at Arthur. "Thank you."


	10. Chapter 10

Merlin swallowed. "A-Arthur, I just went to the future."

Arthur looked up from the piece of paper he actually wasn't paying any attention to.

"Oh? How was it?"

Merlin didn't answer, and Arthur noticed he was pale and shaking.

"Merlin? What is it? What's wrong?"

"There's something terribly wrong with the future."

Merlin swallowed hard and teetered slightly.

His face twisted in horror as he whispered two words, two little words that seemed to disturb Merlin more than dragons or witches.

Two words that mean nothing to Arthur.

But they meant something to Merlin.

"_Slash fiction"_


	11. Chapter 11

Gwaine hated banquets.

His good clothes itched, there were boring speeches, and no one to actually to.

"At least you'll be there," Gwaine said to Merlin.

Arthur looked up for a moment.

"No he won't," he said, and kept walking into the other room.

Gwaine blinked.

Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Why are you not going?"

Arthur stuck his head out of the room and gave Merlin a look.

Then he vanished again.

"Well, the last one he let me go involved me into being poisoned so then Arthur almost got eaten by giant spiders that something to do with curing me and I think I sort of died for a bit, but honestly, I want to go!"

Arthur stuck his head out of the room again.

"No."


	12. Chapter 12

Arthur turned to face the knights. "Okay, I go in. I give them the ransom. Once I have Merlin, you lot come and take care of the rest, alright?"

The knights nodded.

So he went down the hillside and into the camp.

Merlin had been captured by a band of outlaws who had demanded a ransom for his return.

Arthur looked around. "Where's my manservant?"

"Yes well," the leader said, looking shifty-eyed, "About that. You can't have him. Keep your money."

"What?"

"We're keeping him," repeated the man. "Sorry for any inconvenience we may have cause."

"_What?_"

* * *

"Now look here, you can't go about gambling manservants, and then keep them."

"He'll be fine here. Happier than he was in Camelot, anyway."

"What's _that _supposed to mean?"

"How you throw things at him, locking him a cupboard-"

"We feed him!" A bandit called out. "He's too skinny."

Arthur sputtered. "We feed him!"

"Go on, back to where you came from."

"Haha...no."

* * *

"How 'bout this. We take you to see the kid, then you go."

Arthur nodded. "Sue, and I'll be taking Merlin with me."

"No you won't," said the leader. "We won't let you. You don't feed him enough, you throw things at him, you yell at him. He's a good kid. Not our fault you can't take care of him."

Arthur wondered as he was led through the camp, when exactly Merlin was turned into a pet.

* * *

Sure, he'd thought about escaping, but then one of the women had given him stew, and it really was one of the best things he'd ever tasted.

He'd told her as much, and then women started shoving food at him.

One had found a bruise from when Arthur had chuck a cup at him and a few bandits had wandered over.

After telling them what happened and how, they wanted him to tell them if anything of the like had happened before. They had him talk about those times too.

Hmm.

* * *

Merlin looked up at Arthur, who was glowering at him.

"Oh, guess it's time to go then."

No, it isn't," said the bandit's leader.

"I told you," Arthur growled, "You can't keep him."

"Keep me? What does that even mean?"

* * *

"Merlin won't be staying here," Arthur insisted.

"And why not?"

"Because he doesn't want to!"

"How do you know you know?"

"Oh for the love of..." Arthur rubbed the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes for a moment.

Then they realized Merlin wasn't by the fire.

"Where'd he go?"

One of the women blinked. "Er, he left."

* * *

"Where's Arthur?" asked Lancelot.

"I don't know. Probably still down _bartering._"

When Arthur returned sometime later, Gwaine asked what happened.

"Hell if I know," Arthur growled.


	13. Chapter 13

The visiting royals had identified Merlin as Arthur's manservant, and decided that he should be interrogated.

So Merlin, being-you know, _Merlin_-had done the first thing he could think of. Well. Second thing he could think of, seeing as the first was to use magic and turn the royals into something possibly resembling pudding.

He shrieked out, "Help! Help! _I'm being repressed!"_

By the time the words had left Merlin's mouth, Arthur had materialized out of nowhere, sword out ad glaring.

After all, it was an unwritten rue in Camelot. No one repressed Merlin but Arthur.


	14. Chapter 14

Merlin was sitting in a coffee shop, minding his own business an reading a book.

It was then that he noticed a man with odd hair and a bowtie watching im.

A while later, Bowtie sidled over and sat down across from him.

"Sorry," said Bowtie, "but you are _much _older than you look."

Merlin glanced up and cocked an eyebrow. "The same could be said about you."

"Last of the Timelords," said Bowtie. "What's your excuse?"

"Waiting for a prat to be reborn."

"They call me the Doctor," Bowtie said. "And you?"

"Merlin," he said, and they shook hands.


	15. Chapter 15

"Merlin...why is there snow coming out of the cupboard?"

"Well, I've been practicing some magic...and I sort of created a world. I'm calling it Narnia."

"..."

"Look, you don't have to look so surprised. I told you I had magic. Several times."

"..."

"Er, are you going to have me executed?"

"..."

"Arthur?"

"..."

"_Arthur?_"

"..."

"I've broken your brain again, haven't I? I'll put Narnia in the wardrobe, if you'd like. Then you can lock me in the cupboard. That usually cheers you up. How about that?"

Arthur nodded.


End file.
